This Disease Called Love
by Fang Filled Smiles
Summary: It's in his kiss. Or sometimes, his sneeze. Love is like a disease, spreading from person to person and making them vulnerable. When a bout of flu makes the rounds love is bound to throw itself into the mix.
1. Unrequited Love

Authors Note: Yay, my first multi chapter fic! This story didn't start as a multi chapter fic, so the chapters are a little bit small, and this story actually started with Achoo! the second drabble in Every Flavour Beans, my collection of drabbles and oneshots. So if anyone wants to know how Lucius got ill swing by there and read chapter two (and any others that take your fancy :-D)

Harry isn't actually in this chapter, but this _is_ a Snarry story, I promise

Special huge thanks to Yengirl, my marvellous Beta, for all the continuing help and encouragement, this story really wouldn't exist without her, as she was the one who gave me this idea in the first place. Thanks a million :-)

I should be back with chapter two in about two weeks (lots to do, I'm not being lazy, honest :-P).

* * *

**Unrequited Love**

Lucius Malfoy hated being ill. It was undignified. It made him feel weak and powerless. He _hated_ being ill.

He was laid up in bed, covered in a disgusting combination of sweat and snot, and unable to do anything about it. The Flobberworm flu left his head pounding. He had a high fever and all his muscles ached. His nose and chest were so congested it was a miracle he was able to breathe at all.

_In short, I am dying_, he thought miserably to himself.

To make matters worse, Narcissa refused to go anywhere near him. At first, she had brought him drinks and potions and reassured him that it wasn't all that bad. Now, she simply ignored his calls.

Hovering in and out of consciousness, Lucius silently cursed the utter plebeian that had sneezed on him**,** thus spreading his foul disease.

-o-

It was nearing 8 o'clock in the evening when a lone figure strode through the gates of Malfoy manor, black robes billowing behind him. He didn't have to wait long on the door step. Within moments of his sharp knocks, the door swung open, revealing Narcissa Malfoy who - curiously enough - was wearing her cloak.

She stepped back, opening the door wide in an obvious invitation for Snape to enter. But instead of closing the door behind him, she turned to face him, keeping one hand on the polished wood to hold it open.

"Ah Severus. How good of you to come. Lucius is upstairs."

With that brief statement, she turned and walked out, closing the door with a snap and leaving Severus standing there, looking bemused.

"It's nice to see you too, Narcissa," he murmured to himself before turning around and making his way upstairs. "Well, at least she actually waited for me to arrive instead of just leaving a note stuck to the door and a key under the mat," he grumbled as he searched for Lucius.

He'd been in this house many times before, but usually remained in the drawing room or dining room. He'd never needed to know which was Lucius' bedroom before.

Severus found his friend in the third room he checked, though at first sight he thought his eyes were deceiving him. Lucius Malfoy, a man who was always immaculate, composed and dignified, looked a right mess. His skin shone with sweat, his long hair stuck to his damp face and splayed out in a tangled mess across his pillow. His usually pale features were flushed with fever and his nose was running unchecked.

He was clearly too weak to even find a tissue.

-o-

Lucius was incredibly warm, but in his dream he didn't mind because he was wrapped snugly in Severus' arms. He felt terrible, but it was OK because the dour potions professor was muttering sweet nothings to him in a soft and tender version of his darkly tempting and sexy voice, and wiping his face tenderly.

Lucius wasn't in the least bit surprised that he was dreaming about Severus Snape in this way. He dreamt about his friend most nights, in a whole manner of ways, though this time his mind had Severus giving him the comfort that he currently craved.

He had always been drawn to Severus, even back in Hogwarts. One thing that was obvious to anyone who knew Lucius was that he appreciated power in others, and Severus' was in the form of formidable intelligence.

Lucius had realised this during Severus' first year at Hogwarts, and had used his own position as a prefect to take the other boy under his wing and introduce him to the Dark Arts, and the power they could bring. Lucius was delighted when Severus joined the Death Eaters years later, and was pleased to note that he had matured well.

Severus wasn't what one would call pretty or traditionally handsome, but Lucius thought that distinctive nose made him look distinguished, and his bottomless dark eyes were so intense that Lucius could get lost in them. It was while pondering those eyes that Lucius realised that he was more than drawn to Severus because of his power. He was in love with him.

He cared for Narcissa, she'd given him a male heir to continue his name, but it was Severus who held his heart, and had absolutely no idea that he did.

Lucius had tried to drop subtle hints in the past, though he'd never be as improper as to say it to him directly. But Severus had never shown the slightest interest, ignoring all of his hints as though unaware of their existence.

It was different in his dreams though.

In his dreams, Severus knew how he felt and showed Lucius how he felt in return. In his dreams, Severus would say the things Lucius longed to hear, kiss him and touch him and do all sorts of things that Lucius would never admit to anyone, even under the threat of the Cruciatus curse.

Lucius sighed as his dream Severus tightened his arms around him and pressed his lips to his temple, that low and velvety voice still murmuring sweet soothing nothings.

-o-

The sigh turned into a cough, which continued into a coughing fit. Lucius could feel consciousness creeping up on him and tried to fight it, not wanting to face his misery alert and awake.

_I'm not waking up_, he told himself stubbornly. _I'm asleep_.

Then he blinked his eyes open. _I must still be asleep because I can see Severus. Yes that's right, he's wiping my face. I'm still dreaming, any minute now he's going to speak softly to me again_.

But Severus didn't speak softly or otherwise to Lucius. He just started down at him with a frown on his face, while continuing to wipe the gunk from his face with a damp cloth.

_Narcissa really is hopeless_, Severus thought to himself. _If I had known that she'd leave like that I would have ignored her owl. Would it really have been that hard for her to come in here to make her husband more comfortable and give him a potion or two?_

Now, the task had fallen to Severus. _When it should be her doing this, she's his wife!_

Lucius stirred once more. Severus decided that since he was here, he might as well give him the potion. Judging by the state that Lucius had left himself in, the Potions Master doubted he even had the energy to lift a potion vial to his mouth.

Severus uncorked the vial in his hand and tipped the contents into Lucius' mouth, huffing in annoyance as most of it dribbled down his chin instead. _Such a waste of good potion!_

_Hmm, this is an odd dream_, Lucius thought as he felt liquid dribbling down his chin and neck. The hand that cleaned him up was gentle, though.

_Well, this would've been embarrassing in real life. Thank Merlin it's only my dream Severus who's here to see that_.

Only his dream Severus was acting odd now. Instead of being all soft and loving, he was acting more like the regular Severus would.

_I must be getting close to death, even my own mind has turned against me_.

Lucius' attention was brought back out of his own head by movement at his side. Severus had reached into his robes and pulled out a second vial of potion. That was very much like the regular Severus as well, to always be well prepared.

This time Severus uncorked the vial and lifted it to his own lips, emptying the contents into his mouth. Then he leaned forward, gripped Lucius' chin firmly and carefully sealed his lips over the other man's.

_Oh, this is more like it!_ Lucius thought, happily parting his lips. His mouth filled with potion and he swallowed the sickly sweet concoction.

Severus pulled back, pleased that the potion hadn't ended up all over the other wizard's face this time.

_Oh, definitely my __favourite __way to take a potion_, Lucius decided as drowsiness swamped him and sleep rose to claim him once more. _But I'm already asleep_, he thought distractedly. He quickly forgot that thought and drifted into a restful sleep thinking about how warm and firm Severus' lips were, and wondering what they'd taste like without a potion.

-o-

When Lucius woke hours later, he marvelled at how much better he felt. His headache had cleared, his fever was down, and best of all he could breathe again. He contemplated getting up for a shower, but decided he wasn't feeling _that _good. Instead, he lay comfortably and thought about his dream and how nice Severus' lips had felt against his own.

A casual glance at his bedside table made all those pleasant thoughts vanish, instantly replaced with horror. Sitting there were two innocent looking and empty potion vials. But they were far from innocent, and Lucius flushed with mortification as he remembered how the first potion had ended up dripping down his face. And he thought with a fresh wave of horror that Severus had actually been there and seen him looking absolutely, completely terrible.

_But he didn't turn away and leave_, Lucius consoled himself. _He stayed and helped me. He cleaned my face and even gave me a potion using his mouth._

Lucius shivered, remembering again the feel of Severus' lips against his. A thrill ran through him as he realised that it had actually happened, that Severus had actually _kissed_ him. It was admittedly unintentional, but it had still happened, and Lucius could hold onto the memory forever.

His mind drifted to the plebeian, err... wizard, that had sneezed in his face before. _May Salazar bless you, kind soul, _Lucius thought, his eyes drifting shut again.

It was as close to an apology as the man was going to get.


	2. Caring Love

Authors Note: Sorry I'm a week late! But this past week has been mental and left me with absolutely no time, where's a Time Turner when you need one?

Here's the promised Snarry, and there is one more chapter to this story to come. I won't waste time jinxing it by saying when I want to update, I'll just get it up as soon as possible :-)

Anyone and everyone should give an incredible thanks to my Beta Yengirl, she has worked really hard on Betaing this one for me and made it worlds better. Thank you so much dear :-D

Anyway, enjoy (please).

* * *

**Caring Love**

Severus Snape hated doing the right thing. At least, that's what he told himself as he threw yet another dirty tissue onto the growing pile beside his bed.

He was supposed to be an exemplary Slytherin, cunning and self serving amongst other things; he was the Head of Slytherin House after all. But again, his hidden Gryffindor side - the one he kept insisting to Albus didn't exist - had made him do the right thing for someone else.

Now, he was suffering with the consequences.

Naturally.

Severus was not surprised that he had come down with a case of Flobberworm Flu, from Lucius Malfoy. Although they were technically enemies and as much as Severus tried to tell himself he was only keeping up the perfect facade of a Death Eater comrade, he knew that he had assisted the pureblood out of some ridiculous sense of appreciation for their past friendship, especially back in their Hogwarts days when Severus had needed it.

The grumpy Potions Master grabbed another tissue as his nose began running again, giving the innocent tissue box a death glare. Having known he would come down with the flu, he made sure to have an ample supply of tissues within arms reach, not wanting to be seen by anyone while looking such a mess.

Unfortunately, he had to cope without the aid of any potions. He had given the last of his private store to Lucius, and he hadn't had the time to brew more. He couldn't request any from the hospital wing as Madam Pomfrey refused to let anyone have anything from her stores without giving them a thorough examination first, whether they be student or faculty.

That was something Severus was very reluctant to subject himself to. He took heart in the fact that it was the Christmas holidays so he didn't have any reason to venture out from the safety and privacy of his quarters.

A moment later, he knew that statement had been too good to last. A disturbing noise had reached his ears and made him tense up, the sound of his portrait door opening and someone entering.

A clumsy someone if the sound of a body hitting against the cabinet by the door was any indication. Even as Severus pressed his lips together, Harry Potter casually strolled into his bedroom as if it was his own.

"Hey," Harry said cheerfully, "how're you feeling?"

"I ab ill," Severus growled, his voice sounding stuffy and far less intimidating thanks to his blocked nose.

"How did you ged id here?" he demanded, fighting the urge to dive under his blankets. He had deliberately changed his portrait's password without telling his lover in order to keep him out. He should have known Gryffindor's were oblivious to subtle hints.

"Oh, I just told the haughty Lord what's-his-name that I wanted to violently butcher you in bed while you're unable to fight back," Harry replied brightly.

"Har har."

"No, I actually told him that I was going to come in here to look after you, even if I had to blast his portrait off the wall."

"Ad he led you id?" Severus asked, managing to get his scepticism across.

"When I got my wand out, yeah," Harry said with an unrepentant shrug.

"I shall be havig words wid hib aboud believig id idle dreads," Severus declared. "Dow ged oud, Botter."

Grimacing at his mangled and therefore unimpressive speech, Severus turned his head away, embarrassed to be seen by his young lover when he looked even worse than usual.

"Who said the threat was idle?"

Although Harry's voice was cheeky, Severus got the feeling that he meant what he said, that he would have been prepared to go to some extreme lengths to get in. Perhaps it was a good thing his portrait had folded so easily; there weren't many that were willing to guard his quarters, and even less that would keep Harry's regular visits a secret for them both.

A sound near his bed brought Severus' head swinging around. Harry had picked up the waste paper bin and was sweeping the used tissues on the nightstand into it.

"_Botter, _whad part of ged oud dod you udderstad?" The older man growled menacingly, before spoiling the image by noisily blowing his nose on another tissue. In his classroom - admittedly with a clear nose - that tone would have most students wetting themselves in fear and even reducing some to a dead faint.

In here and on this student, it had no effect at all; Harry just carried on smiling cheerfully. Perhaps it was because Harry had seen another side of him in the time they spent together in these rooms, and knew he was more than just the snarky, snapping Potions Master that everyone else saw. And maybe seeing this other side of him meant that Harry wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"I'm not going anywhere, _Severus_," Harry insisted.

They had a form of coded communication when they were alone together. When Severus called Harry '_Potter_' he was warning him that he was in a mood and that Harry should do as he was damn well told. When Harry replied and called Snape '_Severus_' he was telling him that he had better get out of his mood and that Harry would do as he damned well pleased.

This was a mixture of Slytherin subtlety and Gryffindor stubbornness.

Harry usually won.

Severus turned his head away again and folded his arms across his chest for good measure. He wanted to be irritated that Harry was ignoring his demands to be left alone but he couldn't quite squash the warm feeling in his chest that his lover wanted to take care of him. Not that he would ever admit it.

Harry left the room then and Severus cringed as sounds started to filter through from his tiny kitchen. He had no idea how Harry managed to do so well in Quidditch, because he was ridiculously clumsy on the ground. If it could be snagged on, walked into, tripped over or simply dropped, then Harry would manage to do just that.

At first, Severus had only noticed the clumsiness in his classroom, usually accompanied by a fierce blush and lots of embarrassed stammering. After Harry finally confessed his attraction for him, one would think that his clumsiness would have gone away, but the fact was that unless he was on a broom, Harry Potter was an utter klutz.

Minutes passed, and Severus heard nothing but the standard noises of someone making tea. Once he thought he heard a gasp, but there was no accompanying sound of breaking crockery or the cursing that normally followed the stubbing of a toe.

When Harry re-entered his bedroom carrying a teacup, he was still grinning broadly.

"Banaged dot do drob de cub thed," Severus grumbled.

"No, but I caught it," Harry replied honestly.

Severus rolled his eyes; only a Gryffindor would admit to that. Well a Hufflepuff might too, only there weren't any he was interested in. He took a sip of the tea and almost choked on it. After a hard cough or two, he cleared his throat.

"What have you done to this tea?"

"It's got honey and lemon in it. I know you don't like your tea sweet, but it's good to have when you're ill."

Severus hmphed, but took another sip of tea anyway. It was good that he was starting to sound a little more like himself, but he was worried by how pleased he felt that Harry was there.

"You can go now. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself," he added, hoping that Harry wouldn't argue anymore.

"I'm not going anywhere, Severus," the boy replied seriously.

Severus took that as a bad sign. He knew first hand how incredibly stubborn Harry could be when he was serious about something. And after he'd gone to such lengths to keep his young lover from seeing him looking such a mess, too.

"Just go and do whatever it is that you idiotic Gryffindors do and leave me in peace. I don't need you to be all self sacrificing just because I'm unwell."

"Being all self sacrificing is an idiot Gryffindor trait." There was a trace of his usual humour in Harry's voice, but he was still being deadly serious about staying.

Severus sighed, sensing his imminent defeat.

"_Why _are you so determined to take care of me?" he asked in exasperation.

No matter how much time they spent together, Harry could still be a total mystery to him at times. Why would a seventeen year old want to waste his time looking after his grumpy and sullen lover when he could be spending time with his friends and getting into his usual mischief?

"Because I care about you, and that's what you do when it's someone you love."

Severus hurriedly put down the teacup before he dropped it. He cared about Harry more than anything else and would do almost anything for him... but he always thought that Harry was just keeping himself entertained with him and that he would get bored eventually and move on.

Why else would such a brilliant person bother with someone like Severus Snape? Surely not for something as deep as love or affection.

Harry gave him a patient smile. For someone so intelligent and observant, Severus could be incredibly slow. Harry had been waiting for his lover to realise that he was serious about them, that what he felt was deeper than just lust and hormones, but he didn't want to be all mushy like a Hufflepuff; that wouldn't suit either of them.

Severus may be slow on the uptake, but Harry thought he might be getting there at last. In fact, if it had been anyone but Malfoy senior, Harry would have thanked them for passing the flu to Severus and by doing so, giving him the chance to care for the taciturn Potions Master.

"Now stop grumping and finish your tea."

Harry wasn't nearly as good at ordering people around as Severus was, but the latter still found himself obeying the Gryffindor. He was conscious of how Harry stood over him and watched him drink, a lot like how Madam Pomfrey often would with a stubborn patient who refused to take their potion.

When Harry took the empty teacup off him, Severus let it go reluctantly, knowing it would be far safer with him. Sure enough, somewhere between his bedroom doorway and the kitchen, there was the smash he had expected to hear earlier followed by more cursing.

The next time Harry reappeared, he had a small frown marring his features that, much to his horror, Severus had the urge to kiss away.

"Sorry about the cup, I tried to be careful. I repaired it for you."

Severus didn't comment, almost all his cups and plates had been repaired by either himself or Harry since their relationship started.

"Here, drink this," Harry said, pulling out a vial.

Severus' mouth almost fell open; it was a vial of the same potion he had given to Lucius!

"How the hell did you get that?" he asked. He knew that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't bend her rules for anyone, not even the Boy Who Lived. _Especially _the Boy Who Lived, considering his track record for getting into trouble.

"Best I don't tell you, you'd only have to give me a detention," Harry replied with complete seriousness.

Again with the honesty. Severus vowed to worm that information from his lover when he was well enough to put him in detention. He took the potion anyway, despite its probable illicit retrieval methods. He was a Slytherin after all.

The potion soon took effect, but Severus was roused from his drowsy state when Harry moved around to the other side of the bed and climbed in.

"Now what are you doing?" Severus demanded.

"Shh, go to sleep," Harry said. He pulled Severus to lie down beside him and wrapped him in his arms.

Blinking, Severus found his head resting comfortably on Harry's shoulder, soothing circles being traced on his back. He resisted the temptation to sink into a blissful sleep. Here he was, all sweaty and sticky and he wasn't sure if he'd washed his hair yesterday or the day before, but Harry was cuddling up to him like he smelled good.

This was much more embarrassing than just being seen looking a mess.

"Stop complaining and go to sleep," Harry said firmly just as Severus opened his mouth to protest and order his lover out of the bed.

"But I - " Severus stopped and swallowed, not wanting to point out how dreadful he looked.

"But nothing," Harry said, his green eyes gleaming with determination. To his pleased surprise, the man actually acquiesced, lower lip sticking out just a tiny bit. Not enough to be called an actual pout but Harry found it endearing anyway.

Severus told himself it was only because the potion was making him too sleepy to put up a fight; it wasn't because of how Harry didn't seem to mind his appearance or how good it felt to snuggle up in his arms or anything.

Even though he was now a bit too warm, the light caressing touch on his back sent Severus into a deep, restful sleep.


	3. Jealous Love

Authors Note: First of all, thank you! To everyone who has reviewed, your words of encouragement and advice are more valuable than gold to me :-)

As always, an enormous amount of gratitude to my beta Yengirl, her influence has once again improved my random scribbles tenfold. Thank you so much!

Here's the final chapter of This Disease Called Love. I hope you have enjoyed reading this story, I certainly had fun writing it :-D

* * *

**Jealous Love**

When Severus awoke, his head was still resting on Harry's shoulder. He could tell from the deep rhythmic breathing beside his ear that Harry had dozed off.

Being careful not to wake his lover, Severus slipped from the bed and dragged his achy body into the bathroom. He still felt far too ill to be out of bed really, but the potion had helped a lot and now he was going to take a bath to rid himself of the worst of his grubbiness. He knew that Harry would think him daft, but he didn't care. He had his pride and he was going to get himself clean, even if it killed him!

Severus sank gratefully into the steamy water, the heat seeping into his body and easing the aches in his muscles. As if on cue, Harry opened the bathroom door and stuck his head in.

"Want me to scrub your back for you?" He asked, wiping the condensation from his glasses.

"Sod off."

Harry laughed and withdrew back into the bedroom where Severus could hear him moving around.

When Severus came out of the bathroom, wrapped in his bathrobe and his shampooed hair towelled dry, he found his bedding had been changed and there was once again sounds coming from his kitchen. He was so touched by the fact that Harry had gone to the effort of making his bed that he forgot to be worried about what his lover might be about to break next.

He was still just standing in the middle of the room when Harry came back in, carrying a tray with more tea and a bowl of soup.

"Sit down, I expect you to eat all of this," Harry said briskly, sounding much too much like Madam Pomfrey.

Severus concluded it must be a side effect of his lover spending too much time in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. He climbed back into bed and let Harry set the tray across his legs, not surprised when the boy sat next to him.

The soup was a hearty chicken broth. Severus ate it slowly and even managed not to choke on the too sweet tea. Although Harry didn't say a word, Severus couldn't help noticing that he paid close attention to how much he ate.

Severus was tempted to suggest that his lover should look into a career as a nurse after Hogwarts, but that thought brought forth images that weren't entirely suitable while he was on his sick bed feeling so rotten.

He really couldn't ignore Harry's over attentiveness anymore when the Gryffindor started leaning closer towards him to keep an eye on how much was left in the bowl.

"You'll catch this flu if you get much closer," Severus said in a dry tone that came out sounding stuffed up and squelchy.

Harry blushed and sat upright again, having obviously thought he was being subtle.

"No, I won't. As long as you don't sneeze on me or anything. You have to be pretty close to catch Flobberworm Flu from somebody."

Severus got another nurse Harry mental image and quickly turned his mind in another direction.

"You're right. I wouldn't have caught it off Lucius if I'd kept my distance," he commented as he placed the tray with the now empty bowl and teacup on his bedside table.

"Precisely - hey, wait! What do you mean if you'd kept your distance? Just how close did you get to him?" Harry said indignantly.

"I had to give him the potion orally," Severus replied matter of factly.

"Or... ora... what?!" Harry demanded.

"I poured the potion into my mouth, placed my lips over his and gave the potion to him that way."

Severus blinked when Harry scowled at him, his face flushed with anger. He hadn't thought that Harry would react so strongly to this piece of unimportant information.

"You kissed him?!" Harry scrambled up on his knees, towering over Severus for the first time since their relationship began.

_He's jealous._ Severus' heart started to pound in his chest at the fact that Harry cared enough to get worked up over something so trivial. He really did love him.

Severus would have liked to push Harry over and kiss him, but he didn't have the energy. He settled instead for grabbing the front of Harry's t-shirt and dragging his lover down on top of him.

"Whoa!"

Harry ended up sprawled untidily over Severus' chest, their faces only inches apart.

"He was barely conscious and the first potion I tried to give him just dribbled down his chin. It's much easier doing it mouth to mouth than trying to coax someone in that condition to swallow from a vial," Severus explained, each word now as clear as a bell.

Harry opened his mouth to protest and Severus raised one eyebrow.

"I'm sure Lucius himself would have something to say at the notion of me kissing him, Harry."

"It was still a kiss," Harry pouted.

When Severus chuckled, Harry scowled at him again. "What's so funny?"

Pressing his lips together, Harry tried to get off the Potions Master, but Severus mustered all the strength he could find and flipped them over, pinning the younger man beneath him.

"Hey! Get off m-" Severus cut Harry's demand off with a kiss, plunging his tongue into his lover's open mouth. It took only seconds for Harry to react to Severus' kiss, giving up his struggling and eagerly combating the older man's tongue with his own. No matter what the situation, he could never get enough of this.

Minutes passed before Severus ended their kiss, and when their lips parted Harry was flushed and panting.

"That is what 'a kiss' means to me," Severus told him, deep obsidian eyes meeting bright green. "I didn't kiss Lucius, I just helped him take a potion."

"B... but, your mouths... touched..." Harry trailed off, blushing when he realised how childish that sounded. But he couldn't help it, the thought of anyone else feeling those sinfully delicious lips against their own turned him into a green eyed monster.

Severus couldn't resist, he had to laugh at those words especially when coupled with the cute blush. And even though Harry himself knew what he'd said was stupid, he still glared at his lover.

"Oh, whatever! Get off me, I'm going back to the dorms."

He tried to push his lover off him but Severus was too heavy for Harry to make him budge.

"Alright, I won't laugh," Severus said, "but even you must know how ridiculous that comment was?"

"Sorry for caring," Harry said sulkily, turning his head to avoid his lover's gaze, an even deeper blush staining his cheeks.

Severus sighed, now faced with the problem of how to tell Harry that he was happy that his lover cared enough to get jealous without turning annoyingly mushy. He didn't notice Harry turn back to look at him with a worried expression, but he did however notice when two cautious fingers were placed at the side of his neck.

"What-?"

"Your pulse is racing, I can feel your heart pounding against my chest," Harry sounded worried. "Are you ok? Did you over exert yourself?"

Harry had slipped back into nurse mode, previous annoyance and embarrassment forgotten.

"No, that's not the reason," Severus replied. He stared into those green eyes, trying to make him understand without words.

Harry's mouth formed a prefect little 'o' of realisation as the knut dropped. He smiled and pulled Severus down for another kiss, also finding it easier to convey feelings without words.

"Still want to go back to the dorms?" Severus asked a few minutes later, attempting to get his voice to sound deep and silky, but without much success.

"No, I'll stay here."

"Good," Severus replied and gifted his lover with a rare smile.

-o-

Harry Potter felt awful.

_Well, what do you expect? Kissing someone with the flu!_ He berated himself.

What was even more annoying was the fact that he was being treated like a normal student, and for the first time since he came to Hogwarts he didn't want that. He wanted to have his lover looking after him while he was feeling so ill, like he had for Severus before, but he couldn't have that.

If the Potions Master were to ever come near Gryffindor tower, let alone into Harry's dorm, his house mates would surely have heart attacks.

There was nothing worse than being ill and all alone.

_Well, I'm not totally alone, _Harry thought to himself, looking across to the other side of the room where Ron was loyally sat looking concerned for his best mate.

"Hey, don't you think you should go to the hospital wing or something?" Ron asked.

Harry had started coughing again and he didn't need to be a Legilimens to tell that Ron was only saying that because he didn't want to catch Harry's flu - why else would he have pulled a stool over by the door and looked like he was about to jump through it at the slightest hint of a germ heading his way?

Faced with such reluctant company, Harry sighed. _I wish I was alone._

He reached over to his bedside for another tissue, having taken a leaf from his lover's book and making sure he was prepared to be ill, only to find that the box was empty. Not _that_ well prepared, obviously.

"Rod, cad you fedch be sab bore dissues blease?"

Ron left gladly, and to his credit he didn't drag his feet on the way back. Harry knew that his best mate loved him like a brother and didn't want him to be all alone when he was feeling so wretched.

"Dhanks," he said gratefully as he reached forward to take the new box of tissues from Ron. Just as his fingers closed around it, his nasal passages squeezed up. Eyes widening in alarm, Harry didn't even have time to cover his mouth before...

Achoo!

He had sneezed, right in his friend's face.

Ron stood there with his mouth open in a state of utter disbelief. Even his freckles looked shocked, standing out in stark relief against suddenly pale skin. Then he said, "See you later, Harry" with admirable calm before bolting out of the room, most likely heading for the prefect's bathroom to scrub himself from head to toe.

Alone again, Harry groaned to himself.


	4. Bonus - Delicious Love

Authors Note: I know said this story was finished, and I know that Valentines Day has well and truly passed, but I had an idea for a bonus chapter for Valentines Day and here it is. It is unreal how much life gets in the way when you have an actual deadline, but I got there in the end and am posting late instead of waiting a year. At least it's still February :-)

I'd also like to apologise for the lack of posting I have been doing recently. I have been writing something for you guys, honestly. It's just not finished yet (big surprise). And additional apologises to those few who knew this chapter was going and have been waiting, all I have to say on that one is that sharing a computer is such a pain. Anyway, enough moaning and groaning :-P

Biggest thanks ever to Yengirl for the awesome betaing. The end of this really sucked until she gave me the needed push to make it better, so thanks a million, I really couldn't do this without you.

And finally, this story is really finished this time. I swear. Please enjoy this final instalment.

Another Note: First, I want to say a huge thanks to everyone that has reviewed this, you are all awesome, Thank You.

Second, and I'm very excited about this, there is now more of this story :-) **Sheankelor** was attacked by one of my plot bunnies (I should try to keep better control of those things... Nah) and has very kindly written an additional piece. So anyone who wants to know what happens next, go to her profile and read **Quarantined Love**. Trust me, its good :-) Oh and don't forget to review it, yeah?

* * *

**Delicious Love**

"I can't believe you did it! You actually gave them to him."

"And he accepted them! Do you think he will ask me out now he knows I like him?"

"Oh def- wait, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

The two Hufflepuff girls looked up and down the corridor they were stood chatting in, shrugging when neither saw anything. As their conversation about today's Valentine happenings resumed they began to walk down the corridor, and after they turned the corner a relieved sigh filled the seemingly empty space.

Hidden beneath his Invisibility Cloak, Harry Potter continued on his way, thankful he hadn't been discovered by the pair of Hufflepuff third years when he's accidentally brushed against a suit of armour. He wasn't used to sneaking around the castle when it was this full, as he usually only needed to use his cloak when he was out after curfew. The reason he needed to sneak today was the same reason he felt almost light headed with giddy excitement.

He had a date. On Valentine's Day. With Severus. Their first date ever in fact, owing to the circumstances surrounding their relationship.

Severus had planned the whole thing. He'd schemed a way for Harry to publicly earn himself one doozy of a detention to give them a solid alibi for the evening, and instructed his lover to be at his quarters for six o'clock sharp, looking presentable.

The rest as yet was a total mystery.

The only other thing Harry knew was that he was being treated as a thank you for looking after his lover when he was ill over Christmas. Not that Severus had said so in quite as many words.

Harry was so excited by the prospect of their mystery date that he had left the dorm early, which was very fortunate. He'd been held up much more than usual today traversing the corridors, and only just made it to his lover's rooms in time.

As soon as the door closed behind him, he dropped his cloak to the floor and threw himself into his lover's arms, kissing him passionately. This was the first time they had seen each other all day, and both still preferred to communicate without words at this moment in time.

Severus had also been anticipating finally seeing his lover. While he greatly appreciated the greeting, he couldn't let the kiss go on for as long as he would like, or let it lead to other... activities. He didn't want them to be late.

Taking a step back, he looked the young man up and down, taking a moment to stare and nodding in approval at what he saw. Harry was wearing dress robes, expertly cut to show off his figure, and he had obviously liked the dress robes he had worn in his fourth year to some degree, because this set was nearly the same, only bigger. The only real difference was the colouring. Whether he was aware that it suited him, or he'd just decided to stick with what he knew, his new robes were also deep green. But this time the fabric looked plain black until the light caught it in the right way, revealing the rich colour that brought out Harry's brilliant eyes perfectly.

It was a shame no one else was going to see it. Taking out his wand, Severus lightly tapped Harry on the shoulder, Transfiguring his robes into a formal looking Muggle suit and smirking at his lover's baffled expression. The suit was black, and like the dress robes were tailored to show off his slim figure. The tie was made of that green/black material the original robes had been.

Tapping his own shoulder, Severus Transfigured his teaching robes into a similar suit, his tie a muted silver colour. The admiring look in Harry's eyes told him that he'd also got the tailoring right for his own outfit.

"So, where are we going?" Harry asked, desperately curious about what his lover had planned.

"Come with me and you'll find out," was Severus' smug reply.

They both slipped under the Invisibility Cloak, standing extremely close to keep themselves completely covered.

The journey out of the castle and across the grounds was surprisingly easy compared to Harry's trip down to the dungeons, and in no time at all they were strolling through the gates and beyond the anti-Apparation wards.

After moving into a nearby stand of trees and stashing the cloak in a conveniently placed bag hidden in the bushes, Severus wrapped his arms around Harry, pulling his lover's body against his own and Apparating them away.

-o-

With a resounding crack they appeared on a tree lined path at the side of a large building. At closer inspection Harry realised it was a church.

Following his lover's lead they started along the path to the ornate gates leading out of the churchyard. Passing a wooden sign displaying 'welcome croeso', they walked out of the churchyard onto a small town square. To their right was a building with a big red Post Office sign, telling Harry that wherever they were, it was a Muggle town. Half of the space in the centre of the square was taken by what looked to be car parking spaces, all empty as the shops would have all shut at about five. The other side of the square, opposite to the church, held a stone clock tower showing that it was twenty five minutes past six.

"Come on, our reservation is for half past."

As they walked across the square Harry admired the buildings around him. Two that particularly caught his attention were to their left, side by side and level with the clock near the end of the square. The first was a three story building with a slanted roof that started at the top of the ground floor, the windows of the upper floors dotted in a strange configuration in the sloping roof. Next to it was a building that looked huge in comparison to the first building's squat appearance, with big grand windows and large inviting doors. Both appeared to be in use as pubs now, and were the only places in sight that showed any signs of life.

Beyond the clock tower the square opened up into a small roundabout, devoid of traffic this time of night. Crossing the roundabout easily they made their was along the row of shops opposite, then turned down a narrow street that sloped sharply downwards.

"Here we are," Severus said, gesturing to the door of the restaurant, the sign above the door announcing it was On the Hill.

"Aptly named," Harry murmured as he walked in ahead of the Potions Master.

"Good evening!"

They were greeted by a bright and cheerful hostess with shoulder length hair.

"Table for two. Under Snape," Severus informed her.

Beaming brightly, the hostess picked up two menus from the stack on the counter and led them to a cozy table around the corner, tucked against a wall. The restaurant was in an old rustic building, stylishly refurbished to look modern but still keep its classic charm. In the centre of the medium sized room was an exposed brick pillar, that together with a few cleverly positioned partitions helped to shield the majority of the tables from the rest so that only a few other tables could been seen, giving a close, intimate feel to the place, no matter where the diner was sat. The only downside was that the tables were quite close together, but especially on a night like Valentine's everyone was so absorbed in their date's company that they were unconcerned by the proximity of any other tables.

Severus ordered them a bottle of wine, pouring Harry a generous glass of the crimson liquid.

"You do know that I'm technically underage by Muggle law, right?" Harry commented as he picked up his glass of wine, giving it a taste.

"Yes, but a place like this is usually fairly relaxed about it if it's with a meal," Severus responded, sipping his own glass as he let his gaze roam over his date.

Even if this place was strict about someone just under eighteen drinking alcohol, they wouldn't have to worry. Harry had grown into a fine young man over the years, his shoulders broadening and his body becoming lithe and toned by years on a broom, instead of the skinny brat Severus had met all those years ago. His face had also lost that childish roundness that even as such a thin child he had possessed, revealing handsome features that Severus could stare at for hours quite happily.

"What are you going to order?" Harry asked, forcing Severus to regretfully drop his eyes from his lover's face to the menu in his hands.

"Are you ready to order?" Their hostess asked a few minutes later, the same smiley girl that had led them to their table. Turning slightly she focused the majority of her attention on Harry.

"Er, I'll have the Garlic Mushrooms, please," Harry told her, wanting to giggle at the resigned expression on Severus' face at his lover starting his sentence with 'Er'.

"I will have the King Scallop Bisque, please," Severus said, catching the hostess' attention, "and I've already ordered our main. Thank you."

Harry looked surprised at this. Was it normal to have ordered the main course before arriving?

"You'll see when it gets here," Severus interrupted Harry as he opened his mouth to ask the obvious question.

Smiling ruefully Harry let the matter drop and changed the topic of conversation.

"So, how has your day been?"

Severus' expression turned sour at once.

"How do you think it's been? Valentine's Day in a castle full of adolescents, what could be better?"

Harry grinned at him, being more than familiar with his lover's sarcasm by now.

"It wasn't that bad."

"Words cannot describe how bad the students of Hogwarts are on this day. Well, most of them anyway," Severus quickly revised.

"You should think yourself lucky that you just had to teach them, I have to _live_ with them" Harry replied in a dry tone. He'd lost count of how many times he'd had to patiently stand and listen to the nigh on painful stammering confessions of girls ranging from third to seventh years today.

"I've been there and done that, now it's your turn," Severus returned in an unsympathetic voice, silently vowing to somehow find out of the identity of anyone who had approached his lover today and give them a year's worth of detentions.

When their starters arrived, conversation stilled as they admired the dishes before them. Harry was particularly intrigued by his own starter. The menu had said the garlic mushroom were served with traditional rarebit. He was curious about what rarebit was fount it was a lot like cheese on toast, a very small piece placed on top of mushrooms in a creamy garlic and parmesan sauce with leeks.

Mouth watering at the delicious smell, he forked a mushroom, popped it into his mouth and discovered heaven on earth. A small moan escaped him and Severus gave a nod of satisfaction at how his lover was enjoying the food.

When Harry was almost finished, their cheery hostess came over to their table and placed a small spoon next to him, giving him a friendly smile. He smiled back in response and blinked when he saw Severus giving her a death glare. Thankfully, she didn't even glance his way before leaving their table once more.

"Please don't glare at her like that, she might turn to stone," Harry quipped. It wasn't that he minded his lover being such a grumpy bugger, but surely he could afford to be a little nicer.

"It would serve her right, making eyes at you like that," Severus huffed.

"What? No she wasn't," Harry replied before eating his last mushroom. He then picked up the spoon to devour every last drop of creamy garlic sauce from the shallow bowl.

"Oh really, then why don't you count how many times she looks in my direction when she collects our plates?" The Slytherin challenged as he placed his cutlery on his now empty plate.

Almost as soon as the metal connected with the ceramic she reappeared by their table, smiling down at Harry.

"Is everything ok for you, would you like anymore drinks?"

"No, thank you," Harry replied, a blush spreading across his cheeks as he looked at his half full wine glass and across to the two thirds full bottle of wine.

Still smiling, she cleared away their plates, almost knocking Severus' wine glass over as she blindly reached for his plate.

"Oh shut up," Harry said when she was out of earshot, in retaliation to the smug look on Severus' face.

Severus didn't have too long to gloat, for as soon as their main course started to arrive all attention was focused on the table. First to arrive was two large plates, placed in front of each of them, and each containing their sides, a tomato stuffed with sweet onion chutney and cooked cherry tomatoes, some onion rings and a bit of rocket leaf salad. Next to come was a plate containing their meat, a huge fillet of beef steak, sliced and surrounded by sautéed mushrooms. Finally a tureen of vegetables and a selection of sauces arrived to well and truly fill the table.

"It's a Beef Bourguignon. I wasn't sure how you'd like your beef, so I asked them to cook it medium rare," Severus informed him, placing some of the thick slices of meat and a generous amount of mushrooms on Harry's plate.

"I can't say I really have a preference. How do you usually have yours?"

"Blue. So I asked them to cook one end more than the other," Severus answered, taking his own meat from the other end of the dish.

"They can do that?"

"Apparently so."

Harry was deadly curious about how they did that, but as he didn't really know anything about this type of cooking he decided not to bother asking.

"Would you like any of the sauces? There's a peppercorn sauce, a wasabi and lime mayonnaise, a béchamel sauce and some Dijon mustard."

"Erm?"

"Peppercorn goes really well with steak, and I think you'll like the béchamel."

"Ok then, I'll have both."

Harry wasn't surprised to find that Severus was right. He did like both sauces, and the entire main dish actually.

Like with his starter, Harry's opinion of the main course was clearly obvious, and once again Severus found himself studying his date. Harry was such an expressive individual at times, and Severus found that quality so refreshing compared to all the closely guarded behaviour of the Slytherins the Potions Master was usually surrounded by.

After a while, Harry's demeanour changed. He didn't seem to dislike what he was eating, but he didn't look like he was enjoying it like before. In fact he was barely paying attention to his food and there was a small frown knitting his brows together.

"Is something wrong?" Severus asked, concerned by his lover's unusual behaviour.

"No. It's just, well, that woman over there keeps looking at you."

At first, Severus thought Harry was perhaps trying to get back at him for pointing out how much attention their hostess was paying him earlier, but when he turned to look in the direction Harry was, he was astonished to find that there indeed was a woman looking at him. She looked to be about in her mid thirties, and completely bored by her date, who was just chatting on animatedly, completely failing to notice his date's lack of interest. What shocked Severus more was that the woman, seeing him turned her way, winked at him. Turning back, he saw an intense look of jealously on Harry's face that he was oddly proud of.

Reaching across the table he, took hold of Harry's free hand and kept his steady gaze on the boy, not a difficult task at all. A pleased blush spread across Harry's features, and he didn't make any move to draw his hand back, as Severus was sure he normally would in a public place like this.

Neither bothered to see what the woman's reaction was. They were both absorbed in each other instead. Their hands stayed connected until Harry drew his back at length so he could eat cut up his meat, his cheeks still pink.

By the end of the main course, he was well and truly stuffed. Still, he decided to look over the dessert menu, just for curiosity sake.

"Ooo, they do a Lemon Meringue ice cream, that sounds interesting."

"Why don't you order some?"

"But I'm full. Oh, listen to this one. St Clements Trio, a mini Lemon Crème Brulee, a small slice of Key Lime Cheesecake and a mini Orange Crème Caramel with Brandy sauce. That sounds good."

"Then order it, I'll give you a potion for indigestion when we get back to the castle."

"Are you having pudding?"

He hadn't planned on it, but seeing how animated Harry was just reading the dessert menu, he made a sudden decision. "Yes, I think I will."

Harry's eyes dipped to needlessly re-examine his menu when the hostess came to take their dessert order, and he only looked up to order the St Clements Trio. Between Harry avoiding her gaze and the frosty tone Severus used to order some Lemon Meringue ice cream she seemed to get the message that her attention was unwanted. When she returned with their desserts she wasn't quite as smiley, and left far quicker than she had for the previous courses.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" Harry practically purred after tasting the cheesecake.

"Here, try this," Severus offered, holding out his spoon for Harry to try the ice cream.

"Wow, that's good," Harry said, licking the spoon clean before handing it back. The ice cream had perfected the tangy flavour of lemon mixed with the creamy sweetness of the meringue. Even the texture was impressive, chewy pieces of meringue mixed in the smooth ice cream.

Severus hadn't even tasted it yet, but he was mesmerised just watching Harry's tongue slide across the metal of the spoon. Lifting a spoonful to his own lips, he realised he liked it. That was surprising since he didn't have a sweet tooth and usually skipped dessert at the school. He'd only decided to order the other pudding Harry had been interested in so his lover would be able to try both.

-o-

After clearing his own plate, Harry protested that he was fit to burst. Still, he eagerly accepted Severus' offer for him to help finish off his dessert.

Severus admitted the ice cream was indeed very good, but he wasn't enjoying it half as much as feeding it to Harry. He was fairly annoyed when a light tap on his shoulder broke his attention form this pleasant activity.

Turning around to face the table directly behind him, he raised an eyebrow at the man who had tapped his shoulder.

"Sorry to bother, but could we borrow your table's water decanter, if your not using it?"

A thousand and one nasty replies flitted across Severus' mind but he held them in check. He'd already been mean to one person and passably rude to another this evening, surely it would be easier to just hand the idiot their unused decanter rather than waste time pointing out to the simple minded fool that in such a situation the social protocol was to flag down a member of staff for more water, not disturb other patrons.

"Sure."

When he faced the man again after picking up the infernal water he was confused by the expression the stranger now wore. His features where all scrunched up, almost as though he was about to...

"Achoo!"

... sneeze.

To his credit, Severus didn't drop the decanter. Shoving it into the moron's hands and not caring if it spilled, he turned his back on the idiot's apologies with admirable calm. Wiping his face on his napkin he sent a glare at Harry, who was, unbelievably, giggling.

"Something funny?" Severus all but growled. He may love the insolent brat, but that in no way meant that the Gryffindor was allowed to laugh at him.

"Guess I'll be playing nurse again then?" Harry asked with a cheeky smile.

And just like that, Harry craftily avoided getting himself into trouble for his giggling by filling his dumbstruck lover's mind with fresh images of him in a nurse's uniform. Not that he was aware of that... yet.

-o-

Despite that sneeze, Severus felt the date had gone quite well. Harry certainly seemed content, snuggled against his side as they walked back to the secluded spot in the church yard to Apparate back to Hogwarts.

The younger man had had nearly half the bottle of wine with his meal and Severus was quite enjoying how clingy it made him, Harry's arms slipping snugly around the Potions Master's waist as they prepared to depart.

_We'll have to drink wine more often_, he thought smugly, dropping a soft kiss to his young lover's brow as he Apparated them away.

-o-

Getting back to the dungeons was a breeze this time of night.

Hanging his Invisibility cloak on the coat stand by the door Harry made his way to the sofa in front of the blazing fireplace, settling himself in the corner and getting comfy, treating the place with all the familiarity as though it were his own home.

Severus went into his lab and opened the cabinet where he stored his potions, choosing an anti-indigestion potion for Harry, as promised. Then he paused, his hand hovering over another vial.

After his experience with the illness over Christmas, he'd taken the time to brew a highly tricky Flu Preventative potion. It was an exceedingly technical potion to brew, requiring some very difficult to source ingredients, and it only worked if taken within two hours of exposure to the disease. Not many people bothered with it, preferring to get by with other, easier to come by potions to relieve their symptoms instead.

Since they had left the restaurant almost immediately after the... incident, it wasn't two hours yet. Not even an hour, in fact. Severus could take this potion now and avoid suffering from flu at all. But still his hand hovered, indecisive.

His traitorous heart was thinking back to the last time he had been ill, to the warm feeling he got in his chest knowing the lengths Harry would go to in order to care for him. Could that feeling really outweigh his embarrassment at being seen ill and helpless?

Making up his mind, he closed the door to the cabinet and went back into his living room. He handed the single vial of potion to Harry before sitting in the other corner of his sofa.

"Thanks," Harry muttered, knowing he'd better thank Severus now before he took the potion, as he was unlikely to still want to utter the word after tasting it. Almost all potions tasted revolting, but he supposed that's how you knew they were good for you.

Pulling a face at the expected nasty taste, Harry then smiled as his lover handed him a mint without a word. Most people thought of Severus as being cantankerous and grumpy, and while he could be those things on the surface, it was the little things he did that showed how much he truly cared.

Harry shifted over to Severus and snuggled up against the man, giving a contented sigh as long fingers started stroking through his hair.

After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence Severus shifted slightly, using his free hand to loosen his tie and undo his top button. Harry sat up and looked at him with a worried expression.

"Are you ok? Are you running a fever? Should I get you something?" He overreacted, placing a hand on his Potion Master's forehead to check if it was hot.

Chuckling, Severus pulled Harry's hand off his face and leaned in to capture his lips in a kiss.

"That eager to play nurse?" He murmured teasingly against the other's mouth.

"Only for you," Harry murmured back, leaning back enough to grin at his lover.

There was nothing else Severus could do but take that as a challenge. He smirked as an idea came to him.

"We'd better get started then," he said, slowly taking his wand out and watching the curiosity spark to life in those captivating green eyes.

Tapping his wand on Harry's shoulder he once again Transfigured his young lover's clothes.

Looking down at himself, a deep blush stained the Gryffindor's cheeks. Gone was the handsome, form fitting suit, replaced by an embarrassing, and equally form fitting nurse's outfit.

He was in a short - make that very short - light blue dress with white cuffs on the short sleeves and a white collar. A white apron decorated the front of the outfit, drawn in around his waist, accentuating the way the lower half of the dress flared out around his hips. His legs where bare, ending in white heels on his feet. When he reached a hand up to his head, he found a cap - likely a white nurse' cap - sitting atop his head.

Typical to his nature Severus had opted for a sexy take on the classic British nurse's uniform, rather than the American style that usually made it into the bedroom. Struck speechless, mouth opened wide, Harry stared up at Severus, a shiver going down his spine that the hungry look in those dark eyes.

Without a word, Severus stood and threw the Gryffindor over his shoulder, making a beeline for the bedroom at a rapid pace.


End file.
